Food Safety and risk management training with a focus on residues and contaminants by BVL Germany In October 2023 Germany’s Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) will once again host the International Training for Safer Food. ITS Food is a training on food safety risk management, aimed at staff working in public authorities of non-EU countries handling issues related to food safety. ITS Food 2023 will focus on “Residues and Contaminants”. Practitioners from competent authorities, official laboratories and research institutions [...]

In opening remarks at the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) taking place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023, Chairperson Brandi Robinson said “CCRVDF serves a very important role by providing a transparent forum where we can develop science-based standards which will meet Members’ needs, protect consumers, and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade.” The value veterinary drugs play to the health and wellbeing of animals and a [...]

By Scott Mersch Codex Contact Point, Australia On 8 February 2023, the Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), Nicola Hinder, Australia, and Michelle Catlin, United States of America, the Chairperson of the Electronic Working Group (EWG), along with EWG Co-Chairpersons, delivered a virtual workshop to discuss progress to date on drafting the guidance on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud. The draft guidance will be considered at Step 4 by CCFICS26 [...]

The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a Codex Observer organization, will hold an in-person symposium on 5 March 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany, prior to the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU). Speakers include Lynnette Neufeld, Director of the Food and Nutrition Division in FAO. Topics that will be discussed include: Populations in crisis: A global overview of health challenges and policy efforts Between nutrient deficiency and chronic disease: How nutrition has evolved Adapting nutrition intervention studies to demonstrate health impact.   Learn [...]

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) takes place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. The Committee will be chaired for the first time by Brandi Robinson. In the lead up to the meeting Brandi responded to a series of questions from the Codex Secretariat. Q: What’s your day job for those who don’t know you? A: I work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, where I [...]

At the 16th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific held from 30 January to 3 February 2023 in Nadi, Fiji,  Steve Hathaway, New Zealand, gave the keynote address on lessons learned from the COVID pandemic, which he said had “irrevocably changed international thinking on food control … [and] dramatically illustrated the importance of effective and science driven risk management by all sectors throughout the food chain.” Hathaway went on to outline how the [...]

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Co-operatives, SMEs and Communications, Hon. Manoa Kamikamica (pictured centre), speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Government of Fiji, opened the 16th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South-West Pacific (CCNASWP), taking place from 30 January to 3 February 2023 in Nadi, Fiji. “Today’s rapid changes in trade, travel and commerce call for an international standard-setting system that is able to respond more quickly to new [...]

“After last having met as a region in 2019, the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific (CCNASWP16) provides an excellent opportunity to reconnect and exchange views concerning food standards and food control in the region,” said FAO’s Dirk Schulz, in Nadi, as preparations for the session neared completion. WHO will be represented at the meeting by Jessica Kayamori Lopez. "This meeting will be a great opportunity to revisit the priorities of the region and hear from [...]

Vinesh Kumar is the Permanent Secretary for Agriculture in Fiji and will chair the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific (CCNASWP) that will take place in Nadi from 31 January to 3 February 2023. Hosting the meeting puts Fiji and the region on the global map and gives us a better platform to be recognized in Codex. We have been involved in the development of the kava standard and other national areas of interest include pesticide [...]

World Food Safety Day (WFSD) activities in Samoa took place from 31 May to 7 June 2022, with the participation of over 1000 people. Activities consisted of interviews with Samoa National Codex Committee members, the screening of the interviews on television and social media, a World Food Safety Day-themed Trivia session on national television, and food-safety booths located next to the Accident Compensation Corporation Building (ACC) in Apia, Samoa.   Interviews with Tagaloa Eddie Wilson, Managing Director of Wilex, Samoa; Christina Ulberg, [...]